re: snakes
Off-topic, and not to go environmentalist-wacko on you guys, but unless you 1. have a snake phobia, 2. small children or 3. venomous snakes, I'd leave the little boogers alone. Why? They kill mice and rats. I'd much rather have a harmless snake in my backyard than a population bloom of rodents.
Of course, if you do kill the snakes, you'll have more things to shoot.
Mike
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"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert Heinlein